Climate and Forests

Abstract

There is general agreement that the observed rise in global carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere will, via the greenhouse effect, lead to a global warming. Humankind can respond to the prospective global change in several different ways. One possibility is through an increase in the size of the global carbon “sink.” In this chapter we examine the effects of forests on climate change and the effects of climate change on forests. Forests can postpone the buildup of carbon in the atmosphere. Such a postponement may delay the advent of global warming and thus buy time for the substitution of nonfossil fuels as a more permanent solution to the global warming problem.